How Much Sylvester Stallone Was Paid For Taylor Sheridan's Tulsa King

Let's be honest: Taylor Sheridan's "Tulsa King" (one of his few shows that the creator doesn't actually write) would barely work without its star, Sylvester Stallone, if at all. The fish-out-of-water gangster drama is built around the Rocky Balboa legend, and it's hard to imagine anybody else being as formidable as Sly is as Dwight Manfredi, the old-school Mafioso who's sent to Tulsa, Oklahoma, by his New York crime boss after finishing a 25-year prison sentence without snitching or betraying any of his associates. Given more as a demotion and punishment than anything else, Dwight isn't exactly happy with the cards he's been dealt — considering what he's done and endured for his crime family — but he's also resourceful enough to improvise a plan and start setting up new criminal operations in a city that hardly has a pulse compared to his hometown in the Big Apple. Before you know it, he's not only generated multiple income streams through illegal means but has even assembled his own new ragtag team.

Given his decades-old worldwide star power, in addition to this being his first leading role in a TV series, it's hardly unexpected or shocking that Stallone is earning some big dough for "Tulsa King." But how much does he really rake in for carrying the Paramount+ show year in and year out?

As reported by Variety in 2022, Stallone — alongside other Sheridanverse actors like Harrison Ford ("1923"), Kevin Costner ("Yellowstone"), and Helen Mirren ("1923") — made at least $1 million per episode for the first season of "Tulsa King." For the sake of comparison, Michael Keaton made around the same amount for "Dopesick" on Hulu in 2021, while Apple TV+ paid Will Ferrell and Paul Rudd about the same salary when they were working on "The Shrink Next Door" (a criminally underrated psychological dramedy that I can't recommend enough) that same year. Meanwhile, Elizabeth Olsen made $875,000 per episode for her work in HBO Max's "Love & Death" crime drama miniseries.

Naturally, there are special cases and exceptions, as certain megastars no doubt pull in more than $1 million per episode. For the most part, however, it appears that major streaming platforms aim to cap salaries around that mark.

But since "Tulsa King" has been flying even higher in its follow-up season and getting even better reviews than before, Stallone's initial salary has also ramped up significantly. According to Koimoi's sources, Sly's pay increased to $1.5 million per episode in the show's sophomore season before (according to a separate report by Puck) swelling to $2 million after the series was renewed for season 3. Well, one thing's for sure: Being in the Sheridanverse is as lucrative as you would expect (at least if you're already a household name).

"Tulsa King" is currently streaming on Paramount+.